The author recounts his lifelong battle with anxiety, showing the many manifestations of the disorder as well as the countless treatments that have been developed to counteract it, and provides a history of the efforts to understand this common form of mental illness.

The riddle of anxiety -- The nature of anxiety -- What do we talk about when we talk about anxiety? -- A history of my nervous stomach -- A rumbling in the belly -- Performance anxiety -- Drugs -- "A sack of enzymes" -- A brief history of panic; or, how drugs created a new disorder -- Medication and the meaning of anxiety -- Nurture versus nature -- Separation anxiety -- Worriers and warriors, the genetics of anxiety -- Ages of anxiety -- Redemption and resilience -- Redemption -- Resilience.